February 15, 1995, carnegie newsletter by Carnegie Newsletter

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401 M a i n St., Vancotrver. V6A 2T7 (604)665-2289

Monday, February 27,1995 Carnegie A r t Gallery - 3rd floor Refreshments

OPEN HOUSE: FEBRUARY 27,1995.

PICTURE THIS: a pedestrian overpass at Columbia Street designed in the shape of a Chinese dragon, linking the community with an extended CAB Park with protected marsh, tidal pools and more beach access community facilities which include a childcare centre, a swimming pool, ice rink, gym and more a public market with many small shops, some of which are cooperatively owned and run artists' spaces and places for public art (carvings, sculptures, etc.) an educational with skills training centre a First Nations Historical and Cultural Centre Vancouver History Complex with a library, archives, gallery, classrooms and theatres a Maritime Museum a cruise ship dock with a traditional Native long boat design

Are these concepts of professional architects and planners? NO WAY! They are just some of the creative ideas that people in the Downtown Eastside have had for transforming the central waterfront (from CRAB Park to the Seabus) into a public place for kids, families, friends and visitors,. On Monday, February 27, from 2-6pm, a number of large drawings will be displayed for the first time in the Carnegie Centre Gallery (3d floor) showing community alternatives for our waterfront. These colourful visuals are a definite contrast to the corporate mega-project mentality. They are also a product of neighbourhood workshops in hotels, community centres and other locations, where residents came up with ideas on what they wanted to see and what they think would work next to CRAB Park. An artist has turned these ideas into visions. Now the Carnegie Community Action Project is inviting you to come in and have a look; to comment on what has been done and to share your ideas on what else is possible. With so many mega-projects putting so much pressure on the neighbourhood, it is important that we get together and talk about alternatives. So, hope to see you on February 27th for some viewing, a little chatting and a few refreshments. By JOHN SHAYLER

A Tale

A neighbourhood's greatest resource is its human population. It's the people who live there and struggle and carry on their lives and relate to each other who make it a community But the bricks and mortar count, too. People need safe and affordable places to live and public spaces in which to build their sense of community. That's why what is happening to the buildings in the Downtown Eastside has to be of so much concern to the people who live here. This is a tale of two buildings, and how their fate affects us all. The two buildings are Woodwards, and 8 East Cordova. Everyone knows Woodwards, and the sad state it has fallen into. The block on which it languishes is a dead zone in the heart of our neighbourhood. People are afraid to walk by; most of the stores are boarded up, the owners and speculators sitting on their property, waiting for the market to pick up so they can start making big money. For years, the community has hoped to get hold of the Woodwards building and turn it into affordable housing and a centre for public services, an anchor for the community, connecting Victory Square to Hastings and Main, with 2,000 low-income people living in hotels around it and in desperate need of improved housing. Developers see how strategic it is, too, but they have a different vision. Fama Holdings Ltd. of West Vancouver is planning to tear this heart out, to replace it

with a glitzy condo project to be populated by 350 yuppies imported into the neighbourhood. Fama has $20 million and an option to buy the building by March. The developer's vision is to turn Abbott street into an upscale corridor connecting the rich condos of Concord Pacific (see the buildings under construction on Pender) to the funky condos of Gastown. The people who live on Abbott now in places like the Abbott Mansions face eviction as property values go up and the owners decide its time to cash in on the yuppie invasion. That kind of displacement has already happened everywhere in North America where an inner city neighbourhood has been subjected to the process called revitalisation or gentrification. The older, poorer people lose their homes and find themselves on the street. That's where 8 East Cordova comes in. Like Woodwards, it's not even built yet, but it's causing shock waves in the community. You can see the development permit sign in the parking lot at the corner of Carrall and Cordova. The City and the Gastown business establishment look on this project as a pioneering venture to start rebuilding the

neighbourhood in a new, glitzier image. Again, like Woodwards, where are the low income people to go who will inevitably be displaced? It's not the developer's business. He's just doing his own thing. More such projects will follow. In fact, if you add up all the condo projects built, being built or under consideration (take a look at Alexander Street, opposite the Europe Hotel and the Four Sisters), it's something like 900 units. That's all in one year - more than the total number of social housing units built in the Downtown Eastside since Expo. We've already lost 2,000 units of affordable housing since Expo due to demolitions and things like fires, and here's another chilling statistic: During the 1980's, we were averaging about 180 units of new social housing in the Downtown Eastside each year, places like the Four Sisters, Tellier and Pendera (DERA Housing Society) and Jenny Pentland Place (First United Church Housing Society). In the nineties that figure has dropped to 88 units per year - half the rate, just when it was needed even more, mainly because Mulroney (and now Chretien) have taken Ottawa out of

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the housing business. If you want to know how bad it has gotten, just look at this year's round of social housing projects announced in January by the provincial government. There were co-op units for False Creek and for Arbutus, of all places, but nothing for the Downtown Eastside. Not for the bank building at Main and Hastings, not for the Bridge project for battered women, not for the Portland Hotel. It's not good enough to say that condo projects should go ahead because the developer has figured out a way to make money out of them. Or that no one is being directly displaced by them. Or that they will be fun and groovy for the new urban swingers who will move into them. We have to insist that projects show what tangible benefits they will bring to the community, the existing low-income community, the community that has fought to create a decent, stable neighbourhood. That means every unit of affordable housing lost - directly or indirectly - must be replaced on a one-for-one basis, either by the developers or through social housing. The alternative - people in the streets, our neighbourhood snatched away from us - is unthinkable. By Ben E. Noir

5. A relevant quote on the housing crisis *It's recognised by just about everyone in the Downtown Eastside that we ha& a housing crisis in this neighbourhood that's been going on for years -- and we need thousands more units of social housing in order to stabilise our neighbourhood." Jim Green Carnegie Crescent, Oct.'85

P.S.: The project at 8 East Cordova goes before city council's planning and environment committee on Thursday, February 16 at 3 pm, and before the development permit board on Monday, Feb. 27, at 3 pm. Anyone who wants to be heard on this issue should call the city clerk's office at 873-7276.

GAY and LESBIAN Drop-in 1st & 3rd Thursday of each month 3 - 5 p.m.

Pottery Room Carnegie Community Centre 401 Main Street

Thursday, Feb.16, we will show a video "A Different Kind of Love"

The world changed over tea and crumpets at an odd moment during the small hours

and other such curios of a blood red sea a collector's orgasm of antique thoughts The beat began to pulse through body and mind a million hearts in synch except within the soul where could be heard the resonance of abuse Alas, alas a lone child weeps silent tears of age of Old Mother Hubbord and the rhymes of youth as adolescence tackles the tattered remains of innocence

Whips and chains and razor blades S&M in a pastry shell eventually came to pass When he tried to jump the candlestick and blew his parents away He then fucked Bo Peep, murdered her sheep and we all dined on mutton that day Mother Goose got old and loose and tried to run for congress But then her name went down in flames as a part of some preacher's love nest And in the midst of confusion no more tears were shed no more time to cry no less pain to feel as the senses are numbed And in the midst of confusion

Miss Muffet became a whore And in the midst of confusion

The Fight For The Carnegie Community Centre Part 6

"Now's the time to evict the cockroaches"

The ten residents of the Downtown Eastside who had been hired on the People's Aid Program held their first public meeting to form a citizens' group on April 18, 1973. In the words of Bruce Eriksen, "..about forty Skid Road residents held their first meeting... They were fed up with their daily diet and nightly diet of muggings, hold-ups and killings. The residents circulated a petition seeking stricter enforcement of the City's lodging house bylaws and provincial liquor laws as they applied to beer parlours and night clubs in the area." (Get Rid Of Poverty Profiteers, by Bruce Eriksen, 1978). This was the beginning of the Downtown Eastside Residents' Association (DERA), although the organisation was not registered as a non-profit society until August 29, 1973. What these citizens insisted on receiving from City Hall was respect. As Harry O'Laskey said at the meeting, "Too many people think of the Skid Road area as being full of drunken bums and dope addicts. It isn't. Most of us are honest, and just looking for the right thing to do." Then he added, along with Bob Neumann, that one of the area's biggest needs was a recreation and social centre with facilities for all ages.

The forty residents who gathered together on April 18th were determined to act collectively as a citizens' organisation, "to bring about the changes necessary for improving the life of our community... and to expose and publicise the inadequacies we discover in the laws...that...are provided for us. ..to fight the indifference and the corruption we experience or become aware of...." (Get Rid Of Poverty Profiteers, Eriksen, 1978). A letter from Bruce Eriksen and Calvin Sandborn of DERA, dated April 25, 1973, to Mayor Art Phillips and other dignitaries, sounded like a battle cry. When people who have been rendered silent begin to find their voice, it is apt to be shrill at first. Strong language, and strong action, are sometimes the only ways to be heard and seen when you've never been listened to before. The letter said in part, "The people of Vancouver have heard enough talk from wealthy politicians and jingoistic bureaucrats about decent housing. Now's the time to evict the cockroaches and rats, to turn on the water at hotels where they turn it off at night, to restrain the landlords who give only 5 days notice of rental increases, to turn on the furnaces and light up the dark hallways. The new City Administration claims to be for people. We'll see." Those who preyed on poor people with exploitive housing or corrupt beer parlours did not appreciate the actions of DERA or its moral crusader president, Bruce Eriksen. By the end of November, 1973, four beer parlours had been closed, two others were on probation, a dance hall license had been cancelled, and the hours of two cafes had been restricted.

It was about that time that the Vancouver Police informed Eriksen that someone had put out a $500 contract on his life. They advised him to leave town, and Eriksen, taking the threat seriously, went to Victoria for a few days. Then he returned to Vancouver, and announced to the media that he would continue his work despite the threat. He said that if he were killed, he hoped that his death would help the people of the Downtown

Eastside build a better community. Eriksen was not playing the role of martyr in this incident. He simply knew himself well enough to know what he was prepared to die for. It was Gandhi who said that we can only be true to ourselves, and others, when we are able to commit ourselves, on selected occasions, to the death. By SANDY CAMERON (to be continued)

Housing Crisis Old man alone in a basement room. You've outlived your time, you say. You hope that maybe sleep will come to soothe your loneliness. It wasn't always so. You travelled in our country coast to coast. You built the bridges crossing mighty rivers, and logged the valleys of Vancouver Island. You sweated as a miner, and like a meteor you came to town shaken by the bleakness of the northern camps.

You found an old-time residence near Main and Hastings, and lived with friends until that cunning pack of money makers destroyed your home, not caring where you went. A few just died, and solved the housing problem in that way. Some left town. You wandered to a basement room alone.

I greet you, friend, and wait to hear the stories you have lived. Tell me our heritage that is not found in school books. Tell me of those who really built this nation. Sandy Cameron

FIRST NATIONS WOMEN Choicesfor Staying Healthy in 1995

Did you know there is a simple test that has saved many women's lives? Women who are busy looking after their family and friends sometimes forget about looking after themselves. Many First Nations women say this is why they often put off taking care of themselves. One of the ways that women can take care of their health is to have a Pap test every year. The British Columbia Cancer Agency is working to find ways to help make it easier for First Nations women to get a Pap test done. The Pap test is a way of checking for early changes in the cells of the cervix, which is the lower part of the uterus or womb. If changed cells are found, they can be treated long before they have a chance to turn into cancer. Once a woman starts having regular sexual intercourse, she can help look after her own health by having a yearly Pap test; even after she has stopped having her periods or having children. To have a Pap test a woman has an internal exam. The person doing the test looks at the cervix and then gently wipes a few cells from it. This only takes a few minutes. The cells ,that have been gathered are put on a glass

slide and then sent to a laboratory to be checked. It takes a few weeks to get the Pap test results back. Some women don't know about the Pap test or put off having one because they feel shy or don't know how important it is. If you or someone else you care about hasn't been for a Pap smear in the last year or two, now is a good time to go. There is a Pap test clinic just for First Nations women at 2160 Victoria Drive, near the Broadway Skytrain station. It is a free dropin or by appointment clinic on the second Thursday of every month from 6pm - 9 ~ m .Call 254-9949 for information Skyuain TOBumby-)

First Nations Women's

Sponsored by: the Vancouver Health Department; Women's Health Centre; B.C. Cancer Agency, Divlslon of Epidemiology with Project funding from the B.C. Health Research Foundation; and. 0 the Vancouver Native Health Society.

Rhea Joseph Pr0.j ect Coordinator

MY SON When first I learnt You were to be I gladly carried you Beneath my heart Your heart and my heart beat as one The whole nine months You came to be The pain that I endured Overshadowed the happiness I felt when first I laid my eyes on you I knew within my soul That you would be a boy An infant you became then a towheaded little elf Adolescence made you Ready to be The Man that you are NOW Someone grown from within The best that I KNEW How. Eva Wincikaby

There's nothing in the Qu'ran -or in Islam support female genital mutilation.

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Music stand for the score on Indian land the sacred herb the band, played 5 or 6 tunes and in walked our man with matters at hand Give Sheila an amplifier "You're crazy" "No, lazy ... and today is hazy" Sunrise, where's the rest? Way down deep inside I'm shallow Time to drive. I had the keys once before fly on little redwing caw on little blackbird, big raven, little crow every little thing you're working on I don't deserve this backstrokes in a stink pot hot water "That would be 35 Years I am? cents for the coffee? bucks for you 2 Iam 110 Abolish library fines forever dumb dippy sticky things to do in a Public House Public place a stage act Poetry Theatre for the well read Poets to the Interior Taum

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The Vancouver Public Library Presents an Author Reading by

BRIDGET MORAN will talk about her new book, ,!NSUk A First ,which is the intimate portrait of the passionate and courageous life of Justa Monk. Raised amid a large, loving family on the Portage resewation in Central

Good Looking I've got the only looker ever seen with Eyes so brown where grass grows to watch You could eyeball hills along the lake I'll give you sights untold in each sunset An Indian summer to gaze like you touch That's how peaceful will this vision make How nice to holed the water in a trance A sidelook so shy here to swim along Sounds so good my willpower floats Across the lake waits a journey end Overlooking the waves rushing after me My blood feels so pure like water blue I calmly skim by open mouth for shore The scene took away my breath forever see Watch from my brown eyes in joy so slow Gives one a good looking idea that's for sure

Miako

MY LIFE I'm down here again For reasons I don't know 1 cause my family pain for this drug called BLOW Seems nothing else matters When I'm doing cocaine For my life is in shatters And I'm going insane

):'THE SERENITY TO 4CCEPT THE THINGS I CANNOT CHANGE, THE COURAGE TO . CHANGE THE THINGS I CAN AND THE WISDOM TO HIDE THE BODIES OF rHOSE PEOPLE I HAD TO KILL BECAUSE rHEY PISSED ME OFF.

I'm down here on Hastings With a very good friend Our lives are just wastings Will this ever end? But I've got to quit For this life is too fast I'm getting off this shit! And putting my faults in the past. Maura Gowans

ANOMIE OF VIRTUAL REALITY The hundreds o f p e o p l e who l i v e i n t h e Four S i s t e r s 6 t h e Alexander apartments l i v e , v i r t u a l l y , across the s t r e e t from a m a g n i f i c e n t p a r k a l o n g t h e moody w a t e r s o f an I n l e t . Between t h e i r homes and t h e p a r k i s a h i g h , w i r e mesh f e n c e ; a b a r r i e r t h a t d e t e r s them from u s i n g t h e f a c i l i t y t h a t many o f them had a hand i n b r i n g i n g i n t o being. Now ift h e y r e a l l y f e e l a need t o t a k e some t r a n q u i l l i t y i n t h e p a r k a c r o s s t h e s t r e e t , t h e y can a l w a y s w a l k up t o t h e M a i n S t r e e t Overpass and h i k e u p i t s h i l l o f a s i d e w a l k and w a l k down i n t o t h e park. A f t e r s i t t i n g on a l o g f o r a w h i l e , t h e y c a n make t h e same h i k e back home u p t h e Overpass, b e i n g c a r e f u l t o a v o i d t h e condo owners' hounds who have been c h a u f e u r e d o v e r t o r u n f r e e and t a k e a dump. Most o f u s i n t h e a r e a a r e "able. bodied'" and i t w o n ' t e x a c t l y k i l l u s t o c l i m b t h e Overpass, b u t we know damned w e l l t h a t when some k i n d r e b e l used t o p e r i o d i c a l l y c u t a walkway t h r u t h e f e n c e , t h e p a r k was used by much more p e o p l e , and t h u s , i t had a more s e c u r e atmosphere. As i t now s t a n d s , t h e r e ' s a f e e l i n g o f b e i n g trapped i n t h e park, knowing t h a t i f t h e r e ' s any t r o u b l e t h e Overpass s t a n d s between you and s a f e t y . The easement o f t h e a r e a r e s i d e n t s ' a c c e s s t o t h e p a r k has been r o b b e d away f r o m them by t h a t s p i r i t - k i l l i n g chain wall. Why i s t h e f e n c e t h e r e ? The o n l y l e g i t i m a t e r e a s o n f o r i t s e x i s t e n c e i s t o p r e v e n t t h e odd d r u n k o r j u n k i e from p a s s i n g o u t on t h e t r a i n tracks a t night.

W i t h o u t t h e f e n c e , d u r i n g d a y l i g h t 13. hours, t h e t r a c k s a r e as s a f e t o c r o s s ~ decades a s t h e y had been f o r t h -=nv b e f o r e t h e p a r k was c r e a t e d . B e a r i n g t h e l a s t two s e n t e n c e s i n mind, a PROPOSAL must be made t o t h e C i t y a n d t h e owners o f t h e fence, t h a t w o u l d c r e a t e a n Access Gate t h r u t h e f e n c e , e i t h e r across from t h e Alexander a p t s o r between t h e A l e x a n d e r Seafood C a f e and Columbia S t r e e t 8 The 10 f o o t l o n g Gate w i l l b e on A l i s t of v o l u n t e e r s f r o m t h e hinges. a r e a w i l l b e s e l e c t e d t o be r e s p o n s i b l e f o r u n l o c k i n g t h e Gate a f t e r s u n r i s e , and t h e n l o c k i n g i t up j u s t b e f o r e sundown.

I f t h i s p r o p o s a l d i d n o t happen t o r e c e i v e a c o o p e r a t i v e response from t h e o f f e n d e r s , t h e r e would r e m a i n two alternatives: 1. pay f o r , and i n s t a l l t h e Gate o u r s e l v e s 2. pay f o r a l a w y e r t o t a k e t h e offenders t o court. Remember, g a t e s a r e i n t e n d e d t o keep people out. T h i s i s o u r neighborhood and t h a t p a r k i s i n t e n d e d f o r much more than j u s t being looked a t , t h r u another suppressive c o r p o r a t e fence. Garry Gust

According to the forgotten Pop guru, Marshal McLuhan, people don't just read 8i6r ' newspapers, they take a bath in them ... a long Igfoot4 hot soak in a media tub every morning. Actu- !ws bl ally, considering the industrialised nature of dm to fore our media landscape, we might be more like ithe/ walking barefoot on a bed of hot coals. A friend described my writing style as "rambl- nister eneri ing sadism" & how true it is.. or maybe 'ram- ation bling paranoia'; in any case we all witnessed rearm the ii a bird landing on the Pope's head last week rimin e becc &, out of context, Chretien (French for and "Christian") said: "Everybody want to go to ,k 911 start in Canadian winters." Of course we heaven... but nobody want to die." Speaking haven't had any winters here on the west of strange out-of-context quotes, how about rest coast since I was a kid. 1 remember skating on Lloyd Axworthy's "We believe that it is Lost Lagoon & you probably remember it too. possible to walk & chew gum at the same I Student fees are going to double but only time" ... an obscure analogy, somehow related unl 10% complained & the same 200 gun owners to the debt crisis. staged anti-gun-law rallys all across Canada Clinton wants to tax Canadians entering the ings while the middle class & rich are trying to States; $3 for a car & $1.50 for pedestrians. :al 1 have a tax revolt. All somewhat confusing but Then, of course, we could tax them back from .Alt lent perfectly consistent with our media bathhed our side & this would escalate to the point of hot coals analogy. where nobody could afford to cross the border 3xp At the BC Home Show they showed an & we'd all just stay where are, which would electric toilet that won't flush until you put be nice for a change. the seat down, obviously invented by a It's National Eating Disorder Week, in case lad ho woman. Also at the Home Show last week, you didn't notice. 10% of Canadian women & in "Shabby Chic" - that's right, worn cushions men have Bulimia-Anorexia symptoms & the on, for are back in style, and Downtown Eastside explanation they say is that they've been it t furniture is fashionable again. We "get the brainwashed by the media blitz to hate their 41 most for the least" & don't even have to call bodys because they aren't perfect! What's long distance to do it. going on here anyway? Since hockey's back on, a lot of people have A snowstorm on the east coast is being sports for brains. It's "Game ON" in Canada, called "the Siberian Express" & a 2 second the land of cheese with mice for tourists & TV flash of an Ottawa woman appears & she everybody gets pecked to death by ducks. An says "We should make Canadian cars that "expert" retailer on the 6 o'clock news in-

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15. forms us that people choose bright colours during transport. when they feel financially secure Herb ' t In Vancouver, Asian kids are threatening to Doman says in court that he didn't tip Bennett no, kill other Asian kids' parents & bum down (R.J.) in his stock promotion, even though the y o their houses if they don't fork over $12,000. phonecall is on record & the investigating I%:h Pakistan, the Shiite Muslims are machinelawyer called him a liar under oath. Can you gu gunning the Sunni Muslims in drive-by believe Herb was asked to be Governor ~ ~ ~ ~ s h o o t&i nthe g sPresident of Canadian Tire General twice by former BC Governments? It was shot twice in the back by his wife. makes sense to me, just the News is "making 103a; There's floods in Europe, storms on the east JYOP your world make sense."' EM a coast & the earthquake in Japan & yesterday Mac-Blo pickets were incarcerated last weekoYUwas Valentine's Day, so you can order your but they're probably out by now, & BC's \!;,'~eart Smart Choices Guide" right out of the Assistant Deputy Forest Minister has identi- IY '' Ynewspaper, where it says they "can show you Eit? p: fied a new ecological threat. She says we're how to Make Heart Month Last a Lifetime." having a "Cutting Permit drought." Because ~ ~ o ~ . a c t u athey l l ywant your money, if you have of this drought the cutting permits aren't :$any, & if you don't have any remember about falling fast enough on BC's forests, causing ~ B 'S150,000 Chechens are living in ruined cellars the sawmills to dry up. In space the shuttle is with no water, lights, heat or food at this very $ 3 ~ trying to get together with the space station, moment. but frozen nitrogen tetroxide (rocket fuel) is ?lsJ( Meanwhile, Canada's debt is what? 600 leaking from the shuttle & chunks of it are UB3Ibillion? & they just keep adding zeroes & spinning through space threatening to damage Va ,., 4 nobody's got the jam to pull the plug on the the Russian technoloby. The shuttle captain 'Y debt clock, but they're dog sledding for , research - "Mushing for Miracles" it's said he'd reach out & shake hands with the t ~ cancer called, Russian captain on his next pass & then & in Washington they have a Christian , 5! "together we will lead the world into the next rat weight-loss program where you can "Pray millennium." Away Pounds." In Vancouver, City Hall is ,a Back on the ground Russians are illegally going ahead with corporate sponsorship, so detaining & mistreating large numbers of ell we'll have lots more General Motors theatres. 01 military age Chechens, in camps built for that "Sex With Sue" is a new X-rated radio show purpose outside Grozny. There are reports of L ( for teenagers where she attempts to answer beatings, threats of execution, & suffocation questions like "What can I do when I want to 1

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it all the time?" "Should I let my girlfriend hang me from the ceiling?" Diana is suing the London tabloids for taking pictures of her exercising on a machine, & the Fraser Valley Library Board changed the rules recently making free publications conform to "community standards" in other words they got rid of the gay-lesbian newspaper, but not quite, because someone pointed out this violates the "Charter of Rights & Freedoms" they have posted on their wall ... Now, they suggest "placing it up high so children can't see it" ...the newspaper, that is, not the Charter.

It is our contention that you have lost your A popular argument against socialirm is that s vision in a rat's maze of bureau's, categories, if you were to divide up the money equaliy . pigeonholes, departments, by-laws, corporaamong everyone on Monday, by the time &' tions (numbered or otherwise) and tax dodges WIclnada~mils the would be 'g to the point where a coherent rational back to where It originally was, 1=i2 overview of the action necessary to come to George Orwell grips with our problems is seriously impaired. ofY198p) Ir g You may have noticed that I haven't even 5. mentioned politics - who's left versus right, w bogus competitiveness and two dimensional 2. that the benefits accrue to an increasingly a worldview - it's in danger of foundering. smaller number of individuals whose greed 5 It has occurred to many of us that divide and knows no conscience, passing the buck conquer bears a striking resemblance to I being apropos only of non-valuable 5 separate and confuse. At that point Babylon intangibles like responsibility, becomes real. The loudest opinion takes the accountability and honesty. 2 f day but opinions are like assholes - everyone PRT has one;; ah for the fresh breath of consensus T

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crying tantrums extreme distress for no discernible reason

DRIFTS say there is this person at the edge of a snowy field, arms outstretched falling. at a kitchen table, someone leans fonvard to the window, straining to recall a similar occasion there is a dying elm in midafternoon light 50 yards from the road. you see it you'd like to be near it, to touch it but the drifts are so deep it would take forever to get there slowly, breathing monoxide, a car passes behind you. "how far would I get," you think "beneath that cold, white blanket?" in bed, later, you dream a friendly woodcutter serves hot chocolate friendly, but you can't seem to turn your wet nose, your glittering teeth away from him say there is this person at the edge of a snowy field, arms outstretched calling you by name, your sister! straining hopelessly your cold, dark limbs you are rooted to the spot, frozen there is deep snow in every direction and 50 yards of forever between you and anything, I tell you and always, at the edge of the drifts there is a car, somewhere, slowing down breathing monavide Dan Feeney

I saw for you some apples that were left in the dirt, where the old prison once stood. They had rolled down a small slope and were resting against a section of rusted metal pipe. Like an apple you carry through your world until, sometimes, you are alone (so we imagine), your laughter is unmuffled and . bright as the eyes of a child. Even the ocean's cold mouth, opening like grey eternity, wide and blank, or sleep's black ink blot spreading, might not silence your person-sized joy. And partaking of all accord or discord, which fashions us apart or together, you wear your apples and musicks and contingencies, your markets and herbs and necessities in unconstructed willingness to be swayed, elnotionally and physically, through this conjuring, slightly. But something holds fast, some antecedent content, some rooted, anchored passion, some unnamed confidence. Of which we are probably jealous. Of which we do not often partake. If there is anything you do not see, it is how a life might come unmoored in darkness, and the sun find it adrift, beyond all fathoming. Two songs, then; one the song of apples, the other of sirens. Perhaps the same tune, after all, but sung so differently. At noon on the endless beach, in the light of that great campfire, when darkness is pushed back far beyond the forests, the shining of our eyes must be incredible to each other.

By DAN FEENEY

indicates needs by gesture resists change in routine resists normal teachlng methods

To commemorate our sisters who died of Violent Deaths and Drug Overdoses in the Downtown Eastside and tlu-oughout Vancouver. This march is a piith~~it? to Henling the Community.

5UHL U ! /Hi #%&l)HL/~ U L V /w /hf DbV//l~I#VLA5 15ZF. Tracy Lyn Hope

Charlene Kerr

Debbie Kennedy

Gloria Duneult (Sam)

Cheryl Ann Joe

Brenda George

Dawn Ritchie

Laverna Avivgan

Debbie Neeslose

Loran Carpenter

Jennifer Pete

Verna Lyons

Sandra Flamond

Bobbie Lincoln

Donna

Sadie Chartrand

Shirley Nix

Lisa Leo

Marth G a r ~ i n

Gertrude Copegog

?? Anderson

Wendy Poole

Christine Billy

Sheila Hunt

Rose Peters

Jerry Ferguson

Ruby Williams

Barbara Larocque

Holly Cochrane

Cindy Williams

Christine (Chrissie)

Mary James

Ray Arrance

Terry Lynn .

Debbie Mc-Math

Lorna George

Vernonica Harry

Rlonika Lillmeier

Elsie Tomma

Patricia Andrew

Patricia Thomas

Nya Robalard

Mary Johns

Barbara Paul

Diane Lancaster

Carrie Ann Starr

Mary Johnson

Rose Merasty

Lorna Jones

Lois Mackie

Carol D a ~ i e

Lorrain Arrance

Nancy Jane Bob

Peggy Snow

Janice Saul

Margaret Vedan

Janet Basil

Leanne Scholtz

Donna Rose Kiss

Ston!

Laurie Scholtz

Karen Ann Baker

Jenny Lea Waters

Darlinda Ritchey

Sharon Arrance

E. Nelson (Linda)

Julie Mai Smith

Pauline Johnson

Masine Paul1

Chantal Venne

Maria Fergeuson

Patricia Ann Wadhams (Trish) Maureen Riding-at the Door Luanne Stolarchuli (Bonnie)

Annie Cedar Jr. Amanda Pauline Flett (Mandy) Bernadine Standingready Marjorie Susan Pironen + (sally Jackson)

Dora Joseph Patrick + (Tanya Wallace)

there uc more W ~ O W C Ko n t d t ~ ~ f i aceordmg ed to some K C O I ~ ~

CANADIAN CENTRE FOR POLICE-RACE RELATIONS (C.C.P.R.R.) ~ h Canadian & Centre for Police-Race Relations is a national resource centre that was established to advance, and promote, mutual respect and understanding between police officers and the Visible Minority, and Aboriginal Communities that they serve.

The purpose of this community Consultation is to:

zintroduce the CCPRR to you so that you have an understanding of how we conduct business

zsolicit your input, comments and ideas regarding Police-Race relations both from a National and a local perspective

zutilize this meeting to ensure that all of the Vancouver stakeholders (including Visible MinorityIAboriginal Communities, Police Services, Academics, and Bureaucrats) are represented and have an opportunity to directly or indirectly interact with us. This consultation is not intended to address the political dimension of Police-Race Relations, but rather it is to focus on the practical applications of strategies, practice and theory of antiracist policing from a Community Policing perspective.

2:OOpm - 5:OOpm Aboriginal Community (2:OO-3:00 Community Viewpoint) (3:30-5:00 Police & Community) Place: CARNEGIE CENTRE Date: 2 March 1995 As a conclusion to the event, we will host refreshments in order to meet as many of you as possible. We certainly look forward to seeing you at the Consultation. Should you have any questions regarding it, please feel free to contact Barry Thomas or John Spice at 1-800-461-1123

LEARNING CENTRE ACTIVITY The Learning Centre is so busy it's hard to find space to tutor a class or have small meetings. The art gallery has a display of photos and people are walking around looking at them. There are tutors with groups in there, as well as office workers compiling papers. The group I am meeting with at a long table in the gallery is having a discussion on Of The Wall. We are about to publish the magazine again. This discussion concerns the front

cover. Several people from the English Can Be Fun class and the Drop-In are going to use their bodies to form the letters of OFF THE WALL, then have their pictures taken. Original or what! The contortions they are going - through during rehearsals are something to see, and people stare. Hey, we need some backrub here There is a small tutored class in the back room Foyer and a French class next to the elevator and someone else at a second table by the elevator filling in a form for enrollment

into the Learning Centre's Drop-In classroom. Little discussions are being held next to the typewriter, where Off The Wall bookkeeping is the main issue (who sent what and do they need a receipt?). In one corner of the gallery a letter is being compiled before being taken into the busy computer room to be printed. Trevor, who is very knowledgeable in computer programming, is using the large Pagemaker computer which occupies twice the usual space in the computer room so people are lining up to get past it to use ordinary computers. He has set the English Can Be Fun, Drop-In classroom stories and articles, as well as other writings and poems into columns in the machine and will be adding photo's by Dan, Rika and others shortly. There are several students and staff in the Drop-In, and each have their conversations over lessons. It's not visible but the flu bug has hit a lot of the regular members, staff and students. The Carnegie Centre office is busy with a variety of things and people come and go in there. A backlog of people waiting to get into the office is at one side of the Gallery, and will soon disperse. The hectic atmosphere is not always present, but when a new person appears on the scene they usually see a busy place with a lot happening.

A life in the life oJ.

"Let me see some of your writings, Larry," R---asks me, as I get ready to leave after a pleasant evening of diner and coffee. "I'm not in the mood," I reply. "Besides, a holiday is in order before any serious writing on my part is attempted." I can easily have a 1500 page book out in a month's time. All I need is a little R&R, and some decent food. I know what I am capable of. The one thing I don't lack is trust and confidence in myself. Even though I have gone through the psychiatric windtnill a number of years ago, I have certainly let go of it. (i.e. not struggling with it anymore). Although, I am still stuck on the "Skid" financially, that is. "Why weren't you at work last Sunday?" I ask R---. "I was hoping to see you." . "I wasn't in the mood," she responds. I just look at her with a knowing smile. She's had a rough go of it with her family and the psychiatrists, as well. Our so-called highly educated (and paid, too!) doctors look towards medication and textbooks for answers to people's ills today, as they have done in the past. What do psychiatrists know about mood swings, anyway?

Ninety percent of people go through the postXmas blues. The whole economy goes flat b after this festive occasion ... massive lay-offs in the workforce, slowdowns in all restaurants, depressed people, etc. Now that's mood swing on a global scale. "Did you have a nice snooze?" S--- asks me as I come down from the second floor of the Kettle, a local mental health drop-in. "Yeah, sure," I say to him. 'Time to get the fuck out of this place,' I think to myself, as I mosey on up Commercial Drive. I was looking for a nice spot to pan (beg) for the day. As it turned out I did make enough for a pack of ciggies. I still had to go to a soup line that night for dinner. Oh well. People wonder why I don't have enough energy to go to work. They have never eaten where I have. They wouldn't want to. Believe me, it takes a lot of energy to stand in these soup lines, and to pan. Especially if you do not want to be doing it. Get the picture? I run into the woman who runs the Tuesday night cabaret at the Carnegie Centre... "Hi, Larry," she greets me cheerily. "I'll buy you a coffee at Joe's cafe." Right on, I smile. We talk a little while. She half-heartedly scolds me for standing up for her and the other patrons last Tuesday night as a musical group tried to take over the event with their very loud music. "You're going to have this cabaret shut down!" I yell at him. "Yeah?" he shouts back."Well fuck you too." I didn't move (stand down). Security was called in. R--- locks herself in the control room. Everybody left in a sour mood Larry Mousseau

ROBERT SARTl Vancouver Sun

As of today, B.C. landlords who want a big rent increase now must prove they need the money and in writing. Hill 50, the Residential Tenancy hqendment Act, sets up an arbitration system to review disputed rent increases and to keep most of them in tlle two-per-cent range under current market conditions. Housing Minister Joan Smallwood said Friday that landlords will be able to levy larger increases only if they can prove their costs are higher than the average. "These changes are aimed at people who do not act responsibly or who abuse the rights of others," said Smallwood in announcing proclamation of Bill 50. "For landlords and tenants who have always treated each other fairly, it will be business as usual." lJnder the new system, annual rent increases will be based on the landlord's increase in operating costs, such as fuel and utilities; the increase in capital expenditures, like major repairs or new equipment; and a "marltet adjustment" to reflect vacancy and interest rates, land price changes and other conditions. The market adjustment factor will be set every six months by cabinet order, after ministry officials report on changes in market conditions. Speculators who buy an apartment block and try to raise the rents to cover their interest charges without tnaking improvements will not be allowed to do so, said Smallwood. Large but temporary increases in interest rates or other costs will be smoothed out over several years by the formula so a tenant won't be hit with a big jump in rent, she said. Kent increases are averaging about two-per cent a year now across B.C., and ministry offic<als expect the provincial formula 4 1 continue that trerid.

Landlords have to justify rent increases, trd

w e n it was introduced last spring, BiQ50 was roundly denounced by laglord groups and opposition partic@as a back-door form of rent con-

From now on, a landlord who wants to raise the rent must submit a notice in yriting to the tenant, stating the reasons why. The tenant has 30 days to object, and to pay a fee of $35 to cal? in an arbitrator from the residential tenancy branch. gdiscussion fails, the arbitrator will make a decision on whether t h e inctease is justified. The decision cannotybe appealed. Asimilar system in Quebec has resulted in about one per cent of rent inq.eases being rejected.

Smallwood said the new system, unfiikerent control, imposes no overall @apon increases. ' p e system is market sensitive, an(! relates to the situation of each in4fvidual landlord," she said. 'For the first time since the abolitiop of the rentalsman 15 years ago, tenants have the right to approach a th$d party to deal with exorbitant reqt increases." 51pallwood also announced expansi* of branch services, with new offives already open in Vancouver, Sutyey and Kelowna, and offices to opkn this spring in Prince George, Nahaimo and Kamloops.

By RANDY SHORE Editor Laca\ mti-poverty groups want to blow the whistle on further attacks on the country's social housing progams, but they may already be too late. .. A coalition of local groups including Tenants' Rights Action Coalition, the Downtown Eastside Residents' Assocation and End Legislated Poverty, are outraged by suggestions in a paper titled The Savings Matrix to sell projects on expensive real estate, raise rents and change the way income is calculated in setting rent subsidies. With the federal commitment to social housing in the throes of a fiveyear freeze at the $2 billion mark, the local coalition regards further erosion of that figure as a direct attack on poor tenants of social housing. The freeze means no new social housing can be built at all, said TRAC spokesperson Linda Mix. About 7,000 new units were built in 1993 before the freeze, none since. There are waiting lists for existing units many of which are reserved for people who are very poor, elderly or disabled. "It's very hard to get into subsidized housing," complained Mix, who is also concerned by the working papers' use of "outdated" concepts like the deserving and undeserving poor and the idea that the free market can and will provide affordable rental housing.

Today's date Hon. David C. Dingwall, Minister Responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation Room 607, Confederation Building House of Commons OTTAWA, Ontario. KIA 0A6

POSTAGE FREE

Dear Minister Dingwall: I am greatly concerned to learn that Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) has consulted with fewer than 20 national organisations on cost-saving plans for public and cooperative housing that would affect many thousands of low income people in Canada.

I am alarmed that CMHC proposes to finance new social housing starts with savings that come at the expense of people who can least afford it - people presently living in public and social housing. If implemented, CMHC's drastic proposals would increase poverty and homelessness across the nation. Among the many cost-saving measures contained in working papers prepared by CMHC, of greatest concern to me are proposals to: Move away from targeting lowest income households 0 Sell valuable land occupied by social housing to private developers Adjust social assistance rents to reflect other sources of income (child tax benefit? GST tax credit? child support payments?) Eliminate certain deductions from gross income (child support? daycare expenses?) Reduce current heating allowance Increase rents from 25% to 30% of income Charge residents for additional services (parking? cable TV?) Salary reductions in, and privatisation of, related housing services I believe that Canada's credibility as a caring and compassionate nation would be at stake if the above cost-saving measures are implemented. I urge you to oppose them. Further to this, I strongly urge you to address the pressing need for affordable, secure, accessible and adequate housing for low income Canadians by increasing, rather than decreasing, public and social housing starts across the country now.

Sincerely, (name) (address, including postal code)

Many people 1 have talked do not understand anything about the Canada Assistance Plan. The social rights created by the C.A.P. are: 1 . The right to income when in need. 2. The right to an amount of income that takes into consideration basic requirements for food, shelter, clothing, , fuel, utilities and other basic or special needs based in the income and resources available to you. 3. The right to receive this income regardless of what province you are from. 4. The right to appeal decisions about social assistance that you disagree with and the right not to have to work or train to get social assistance. In order to understand the Canada Assistance Plan better, we need to research the legal aspect and the constitution of this country. Abandoning national standards goes against the constitution. The newspaper editorials show us that

same. In addition to denying us rights they are also giving the provinces less money and fewer standards. At the present time there are strings attached to the transfer payments the provinces receive. . When the Canada Assistance Plan is abolished the premiers do not have to spend money from transfer payments on social programs. They could use it for highways and megaprojects. CAP has been part of the social fabric of Canada. Without it there would be even more drastic cuts to Unemployment Insurance and Social Assistance., Carnegie is partly fbnded by the Canada Assistance Plan and without it there would be fewer services and shorter hours for this community centre. The numbers of homeless people in this country are certain to increase by leaps and bounds. By IRENE SCHMIDT

Looking at the Budget

%&,

Tora has given a snapshot of the "Daily News" and it all makes sense. Taking a snapshot of the economy is a rare feat, and most people only get the information presented on the "Daily News". The federal government and big business are still holding hands, in the relationship of idiot child and besotted parent, to get the following accepted: seniors' pensions reduced and the eligibility age increased to 67 (by threatening 70, then 'compromising') intellectual property laws to give drug companies a 20-year monopoly on medicines and increase profits by wiping out the generic drug manufacturers skyrocketing salaries of CEOs (Chief Executive Officers), dramatic increases in profits for multinationals and banks while jobs are lost, wages cut, massive lay-offs and over $36 billion in deferred taxes "There Is No Alternative" (TINA) to cutting spendindslashing social programs1 burning the social safety net - the only route possible according to the same CEOs and multinationals and banks who are benefiting from unfair taxes and carrying out the job cuts, firings, lay-offs and plant closures that have increased the need for improved social programs in the first place Some basic facts about poverty in Canada: Poverty among single-mothers remains at an alarmingly high rate of near 60 percent; For all unattached individuals, the incidence of poverty is high - almost 34 percent of single men under age 65; Just over 61 percent of unattached youth under 25 are living in poverty;

More and more of the young families (where the head of the family is under 25) are living in poverty. The rate among this group is now 42 percent and has been climbing steadily; Because family poverty is high, many more children are poor. In 1993, 1.5 million kids were living below the poverty line, representing 2 1.3 percent of all Canadian children. Canada, the United States, and New Zealand (cheeringly applauded for its "economic miracle" which resulted in poverty increasing by leaps and bounds, not to mention drug abuse, teen suicide and emigration) have the highest rates of child poverty amongst all industrialised nations. The richest 5th of Canadians receive 46.7% of all income; the poorest 5th receive 3.3%.

These lowlights of the current situation are here just to give some context to an item on this morning's news: Paul Martin, the federal Finance Minister, had a closed meeting with the very CEOs and bank presidents referred to above. They were "asked" about increasing revenue for the government by such things as higher taxes for corporations, a wealth tax, an inheritance tax, interest on the billions in deferred taxes... They unanimously rejected all the proposals and "urged" Martin to get any money he needs by cutting social programs and civil service jobs. A bill has been introduced by the Liberals called The Regulatory Efficiency Act. It exempts business from the law. It allows for the "waiving" of any existing federal regulation, and its replacement with a "compliance agreement." This allows business to achieve regulatory goals "through alternatives to desiped regulations." Simply put, whenever business comes up against a regulation it doesn't like, it can make up its own - it can be 'creative'. .. The government rationale holds that this Act is an attack on the "undue regulatory burden" of "outmoded" regulations which, according to (scant) information, places an "unfair" burden on the business community.

Regulations could be struck down in the m following areas (for example): food and drug laws, affecting food standards and the public's right to know what is in the food they eat and the medicinal products they use; the Fisheries Act, the main federal law regulating, among other things, the dumping of dangerous substances into oceans and our inland lakes and rivers; the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, which regulates, among other things, toxic chemicals and the introduction of new substances into the environment, such as bovine growth hormone, an inadequately studied biotechnoloby product designed to increase milk production when injected into cows; transportation safety laws; and federal laws governing workplace Health and Safety The implications are that public interest advocates will potentially have to fight for environmental and other social gains all over again, on a one-by-one basis as business calls for one regulation after another to be replaced with "compliance agreements" Areas already targetted, using the Regulatory Efficiency Act, include biotechnology, food and therapeutic products, health, mining, automotive industry, forest products and aquaculture. (Wzat can be done? Deluge federal MPs, including Sheila Copps as Minister of the

Environment, with demands that this Act be withdrawn immediately. Call your MP to demand the same. Write to Chretien, Treasury Board President Art Eggleton, and Minister of Industry John Manley (all at the House of Commons in Ottawa, all postage-free) and demand that, barring the Bill's withdrawal, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development hold hearings into the environmental implications of the Act, calling on those responsible for it to prove that it will not result in the above impacts.) Bill C-62 strikes at the very heart of Canadian Parliamentary Government. Funny that the Republican hacks now in Washington want precisely the same thing.

Who's competing with who? By the way, the social security review, faced with such overwhelming rage and opposition from virtually every non-rich person in the country, is now being delivered through the back door. It remains politically impossible to get their destruction through, so it's all being left to the budget bull of Martin, parroting his masters with more and more TINA. Now, boys and girls, does that make sense? By PAULR TAYLOR (Information in this article is from NAPO's (National Anti-Poverty Organization's) response to the federal 'discussion paper' on "Improving Social Security in Canada"; and -Canadian Environmental Law Association)

Yutaka Kawasaki Perth, Australla

, I

DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE YOUTH ACTIVITIES SOCIETY

STD CLINIC - 219 Main; Monday Friday, loam - 6pm. NEEDLE EXCHANGE - 221 Main; 9am - 8pm every day. Needle Exchange Van - on the street every night, 6pm-2am (except Mondays, 6pm-midnight) I

- -

1994 DONATIONS p a u l a R.-$20 3 r u c e 5.-$20 Kettle FS-$16

C h a r l e y B.-$32 B i l l S.-$2 .q S t u a r t M.-$50 Sandy C.-$20 Nancy H.-$20 C e c i l e C.-$10 H a z e l M.-$10 Law L i b r a r y -$209 ~ i l l i a nH.-$50 J o y T.-$10 Lorn -$ 5 D i a n e M.-$16 Me1 L.-$14 1 ~ d u l tLCC -$12 Libby D.-$45 Peggy G'-$l 5 0 1 c a r n e g i e LC -$30 CEEDS -$50 A.Withers -$20 S u e H.-$35 / Margi S . - $ 5 Anonymous -$87.35 Sonya S .-$200 f l e l p i n t h e Dovntovn E a s t s i d e ( f u n d i n g )

11 1 I

naba .

r u m~ U I W L I ~

THE NEWSLETTER IS A PUBLICATION OF THE ,ARN,lE COMMUNITY CENTRE ASSOCIATION Articles represent the views of individual contributors and not of the Association.

Legal Services Society 4930 Ministrry of Social Services -$I ,000

NEED HELP I

HSubmissionx Deadline NEXT ISSUE

25 February

Saturday,

The Downtown Easlslde Residents' Association can help you with: any welfare problem Information on legal rights disputes with landlords unsafe living conditions . a income lax U.IC problem finding housing a opening a bank account @

Come Into the Dâ&#x201A;ŹRA office at 9 East Haslings SI.

DERA HAS BEEN SERVING THE DOWNTOWN . EASTSIDE FOR 20 YEARS. .

HE ION

W.A.N.D. People with disabilities have equal rights to universally accessible services, security, selfdetermination, privacy and full participation in all aspects of community life enjoyed by all citizens. Systemic barriers deny individuals with disabilities equal access to the personal, social and economic opportunities available to most people. Disabilities affect health and lifestyle. Common social attitudes, although they are changing, tend to treat individuals with disabilities with pity or resentment. They are often treated as charity cases, needing a hand-out and less capable than others. Aboriginal people with disabilities have unique needs. It is often assumed that they have never worked or paid taxes and that they've been lifelong burdens to taxpayers. In a brief presented to the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples by the BC Aboriginal Network on Disability Society, the main message given was that Aboriginal people with disabilities be recognised and treated as part of society by all levels of government. Problems with housing were identified as a first priority. We are living in difficult times. We, as Aboriginal people, have gone through some dramatic changes in the past decade. For all too inany people, the prosperity of earlier decades has become little more than a memory. Those Aboriginal people who have moved to the urban areas of the province have suffered greatly as a result of the move that was supposed to improve their standard of living. There are many conditions that force these people to live in poverty. There are an

increasing number of Aboriginal people who are poor and they are getting poorer; their existence has become survival. Aboriginal people are faced with chronic unemployment, inadequate housing and discrimination, but Aboriginal people with disabilities are among the hardest hit by poverty. A disproportionate number of individuals with disabilities live in poverty and must bear the extra costs associated with their disability.

The foregoing has provided a very brief background as to why W.A.N.D. Society was established. The founding members of the organisation were quick to recognise the needs of Aboriginal people with disabilities because they themselves are among the group so identified by today's society. It was recognised as well that there are agencies in place trying to meet the need but, as with everything else today, are understaffed, underfunded, and have suffered the cutbacks of both provincial and federal budgets. W.A.N.D. founding members recognised the value of empowering one another, and of promoting empowerment within and outside

their organisation in relation to creating an awareness of Aboriginal people with disabilities. They see empowerment as a dynamic process, one in which individuals gain increasing control over their own lives. In order for this change to happen, it is necessary that funding agencies and community leaders give up some of their authority to front-line workers and those people receiving services. It is lime to take a serious look at the current situation of these people in the downtown eastside core of Vancouver; specifically people with disabilities who are of Aboriginal descent. W.A.N.D. believes they are moving in the right direction to respond to the needs of this particular group. We are well aware of the diff'iculties and "problems" and would like to provide and be part of the solution. We have identified a need for an information and drop-in centre for Aboriginal people with disabilities, a place where they will be

paihtih3 as a

Career

respected and become part of the solution to whatever "problem" they are experiencing. There is much value in establishing such a centre. It would provide a place within the community that these citizens could identi@ with; it could also provide a social outlet. It could provide the environment and social structure that would encourage the building of positive attitudes, increase self confidence and self determination., As an information centre, it would provide a one-stop type of service for the consumers, rather than the runaround, being sent from one place to the next that happens now Submitted by Fred Arrance

Zen Welfare A

Have you ever had the feeling that others were criticising you not so much for who you are but rather for what you are not? If one is aware enough, one can see the ubiquitous synchronicity that is the stuff of our daily existence.. And one can see as well that life is full of zen koans and Zen mondos. (A koan is a Zen riddle in which the answer is nothing less than the realisation of Entire

Being. A mondo is a Zen question and answer that is meditated upon as a guide to enlightenment.) The media focus on recipients of GAIN in the downtown eastside is an indication of the true philosophical underpinnings of the people who are employed in mainstream (40 hrslwk) occupations. Depictions of people in this neighbourhood are misrepresentational and underemphasize the courage of the

people who CHOOSE to live as a bohemian existentialist with poverty as a treasure. (Poverty is one thing money can't buy.) The increasing numbers of bourgeois suburbanites down in this neighbourhood 'slumming' is indicative of the reality that more and more people are disillusioned with an insular life devoid of any dynamic street theatre in their suburban sprawl existence. (A result of poor city planning - e.g. in Surrey you may have to go 5 miles for a quart of milk!)! A life encumbered with the many tedious obl igations of bills, property taxes, creditcard dunning letters and automobile expenses seems to have left many people tragically prosaic! Welfare allows one to pursue the way of Zen Buddhist mendicancy. Buddhism talks of right occupation being one of the steps on the noble Eightfold Path. And often the best occupation is no occupation. When one doesn't use certain muscles for awhile, the begin to atrophy; and I watch all these cars and within each one is a passenger(s) with legs getting increasingly flabby. The sit-down society's legs are no great shakes. Too bad that most people, if given a choice between a challenging life on the rough side of town which brings a sense of 'street smarts', or the gilded pampered life of a tout, will choose the latter. People who make over ten thousand dollars a year look down on GAIN recipients because we are visibly receiving a Provincial handout. But they are sucking the government tit even

harder. It's j ust that GAIN people are up front about it and they are hidden. (it's sort of like the difference between George Bush and Hitler. They were doing the same thing, it's just that Hitler was overt and Bush was covert) Now they want to build condos, resulting in the loss of many low-income housing units?! The situational ethics of this pernicious proposal are a travesty. What a miscarriage of justice..what an abortion of justice. 20-30 years ago, the hippies promoted free love and mostly legalisation of pot when they became the establishment. But now many MPs, MLAs and Senators were hippies but pot still isn't legal. Now the people my age, the so-called 'Generation X-ers' promote consciousness

expansion, an emphasis on an artistic life, and we love pot!! But I am really skeptical that my peers, once they get into office, will legalise pot either. I have hardly any faith in people aged 20-30. There are many people here, on welfare, who are artists, scientists, technicians, philosophers, musicians, poets, zen students, writers and existentialists. Sun and Province writers, take note! That's all. By DEAN KO P.S.; Stats Can should recognise welfare as a legitimate occupation. It's the occupation-ofno-occupation, a Taoist-influenced lifestyle dedicated to the emancipation of all beings rather than to chase someone else's dollar.

social work in harlem

harlem harlem I didn't want to help you I wanted to be you I wanted to join the wine-soaked mother slumped in front of your tenement I wanted to smoke the marijuana growing wild in central park I wanted to burn-out in your streets like the riot fires blackening your skies burning down the neighbourhoods inside me neighbourhoods of hidden misery and bitterness harlem I wanted to fix with your children in burned-out tenements 1 wanted to be sucked-off by your whores I wanted to be everything the role I was playing opposed I wanted to be passed-out left alone with rage and fear and uselessness harlem I wanted a ticket to your oblivion

harlem harlem harlem

I returned to you on midnight december deep-freeze subways junk sick pacing shadows waiting for the connection blowing on my hands avoiding prowl cars buying heroin and guzzling gin with your pushers your friends harlem 1am your friend selling junk to junk-sick junkies your brothers harlem

on your siren-overdosed streets hours and hours on your bleeding sidewalks harlem sick and cold and turning blue feeling proud of myself help people get eye-glasses? get them straightened-out with welfare? get them false teeth? carfare? school lunch money? drag winos to detox? shit I wanted to share bottles with the goddamned winos the very same day I was meeting the people and saying how terrible! must do something! must clean up the block! I was craving saturation in the horrors of the block harlem I wanted to race into central park after dark I wanted to be eaten alive in there I wanted to drink skeletons out of your eyes harlem 1wanted to mainline your grave-light one summer afternoon in harlem I came upon an attack dog being trained a geman shepard forced into a steel mesh cage the cage designed so the dog could neither stand up nor lay down the dog cramped wedged in there snarling at everyone walking past burning up and growling at everything thirsty and deprived of water hungry and made hungrier baking in the hot sun and at night the dog was turned loose in a tenement under renovation to protect building supplies the dog an evil epiphany of my soul I never saw your beauty harlem never saw your strength harlem never saw your faith harlem

I saw only myself I suffered only for myself harlem forgive me harlem please forgive me east harlern,n.y.,1967 - vancouver,b.c, 1995 BUD OSBORN

adverse to cuddling

sustained odd play

difficulty in mixing with other children spins objects

I I

inappropriate attachments to objects

BEING POLITICALLY CORRECT IN THE 90's: A "NO-NO"

"TOTALLY CORRECT-A-MUNDO"

Bald Hair Disadvantaged Shoplifter Nontraditional Shopper Laid Off Work Indefinitely Idle Fat Size-Friend1y Drunk Sobriety-Deprived Body Odour Nondiscretionary Fragrance Fired Presented With A Career-Change Opportunity Corsage Botanical Companion Dirty Old Man Sexually Focused Chronologically Gifted Individual Boring Charm-Free Herpes His 'n' Herpes ugly Cosmetically Different Termination of Employment Outplacement Short Vertically Challenged Book/Newspaper Processed Tree Carcass

1 '

Join us for a unique evening of Latin American food, music and t h e a t r e with Special G u e s t Speakers from t h e Centre for Popular Education and Communication in Nicaragua (CANTERA) A fundraising event t o support CANTERA and their work with community organizing projects in Nicaragua.

February 23rd, 1995 6:30pm Collingwood United Church 3215 5chool Ave. (near Joyce and Kingsway) Tickets: $15.00fully employed $12.00 unemployed $5.@'children under 12 available a t Co-op Books and CafL Quetzal for more information call 879-7216